Speech experts say gaps stunting kids development

Speech pathologists say WA school children are suffering from a lack of services, stunting their development and leaving them vulnerable to social isolation.

More than 19,000 students across the state have speech and language disorders, and experts say their needs are not being met due to a critical shortage of speech pathologists within the education system.

She says without direct access to therapy, students will achieve less academically and will be more likely to participate in criminal behaviour.

Miss Sanderson says students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are the most affected.

"We believe that WA's children with communication problems are missing out with access to speech pathology services simply being a postcode lottery," she said.

"Without more speech pathology services within schools, many school children won't be able to keep up with their school work, and evidence shows that some will even end up in the juvenile justice system."

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